Spring fever has hit our household in more ways than one…there is a definite collective longing for the lazy, unstructured days of summer starting to develop but poor Rudy also came down with the yucky kind of fever making him pretty miserable for the past few days.
There was a staff shuffle within the district that resulted in a nurse switch for Rudy and last Friday was his first day with Nurse Viviana. Sadly, he came down with a fever and was sent home from school early that day and hasn’t been back to school yet. (Sorry for the crummy first week of Rudy duty Viviana!) His symptoms were typical of the viral infections he gets from time to time so we hunkered down to wait for it to run it’s course. Usually Rudy responds by sleeping but this time around he was pretty inconsolable and he found it difficult to find a comfortable position which resulted in 4 days and nights of fitful, sporadic rest. His fever didn’t respond to the Motrin/Tylenol regimen so I took him to see his pediatrician today for help.
It looks like Rudy is battling multiple infections…a viral infection for sure and 2 unrelated bacterial infections (ear and strep). 😦 He’s on amoxicillin now so hopefully it will start working on the bacterial infections quickly allowing his body to rest while the viral infection takes care of itself. Rudy needs to be on the antibiotic for 48 hours before he can go back to school so maybe he’ll be able to return to school on Friday…to nurse Viviana and all his friends he’s missing! 🙂
We sure appreciate prayer for complete healing and lots of much needed rest. Thank you friends!!
So grateful for Nurse Jomana’s care of Rudy the past couple of months…luckily she’s still around and Rudy will get to see her when she comes to MntnView for other nursing duties. Woo Hoo!!! Thank you Jomana!! 🙂
I have to give a BIG SHOUT OUT to the man who has taken most of our pictures for retrieving our pictures after a computer snafu a couple of weeks ago!!! Thank you Greg 🙂 It’s a huge relief to have IPhoto again and I’m back in “blog” action with a series of fun photos from this month. I’ll let the pictures do the talking…
(Easter included a great outdoor church service in the am and the traditional Easter Basket Hunt in the afternoon followed by a fun bbq with friends in the evening!)
Four Rock Stars setting the stage for Easter morning worship!! You’ll be seeing more of Jeremy and Aaron later this spring as they are both marrying their sweethearts and Rudy is invited! Ha HaOlivia and Rudy getting ready for the Annual Geyling Family Easter Basket Hunt!Easter BBQ and pool fun with the Essigs!
(Wilson hit a MAJOR milestone birthday this month!!!)
Woo Hoo! Happy EIGHTEENTH Birthday Big Boy! 4-9-15Birthday sparklers…thanks to Bob and Michele Fitch! 🙂
(April has been a month filled with celebrity encounters…)
The big kids had the opportunity to usher at a recent Fellowship of Christian Athletes event featuring Bethany Hamilton! Olivia was particularly thrilled as she is a super fan of “Soul Surfer” and Bethany’s story!That same night, Rolf and the big boys attended John Foreman’s concert (lead singer of Switchfoot)…the boys were pretty thrilled at the VIP meet and greet following the concert!A son of friends of ours is a cast member on the current season of Survivor…Tyler Fredrickson joined his family and friends here in town for a viewing party last week…poor Maxo missed it because of a Lacrosse game but Wilson and Livy got to go! So fun!The following morning, our local abc news outlet came to the house to interview our family about Rudy’s 2013 Wish Trip. They are featuring Rudy’s story for an air miles drive this week! The big kids were AMAZING.Livy tried her hand at hard-hitting reporting!The boys were a tough interview!Meteorologist Meredith Garofalo and camera woman Joyce were super fun!We enjoyed hosting our annual teacher appreciation dinner last week with a handful of the kids’ teachers and their families…once again, GREAT people…SUPER STARS in our book!Rudy’s Kindergarten teacher Mr. Casady captured this little treasure during science class a couple of weeks ago. 🙂
(We saw a whole stadium full of super stars on Friday at the Special Olympics track and field event in Santa Barbara! It was such a fun morning with lots of special friends…)
Opening Ceremonies. Go Mountain View Cougars!Friends Omar and Natalie.SUPER special Kyle and his Mama & baby sister. 🙂Rudy wasn’t too keen on the loud, crowded event…his 25m unassisted walk event kind of turned into a 3 foot assisted drag (ha ha ) but he was a good sport, finally crossed the finish line!……and made it to the podium! 🙂
Rudy’s class! Way to go K-1 Cougars!!!Post Special Olympics fun with friend Bob…in the trampoline, of course!Drum Captian Wilson promised the drum line that he would wear his competition uniform to school if they made it to the Championships…yep, they made it! Ha Ha Winter Solstice, Baby!!!!!Wilson’s final HS drum line competition!This spring marks the very first season of DP Lacrosse EVER! So happy Max gets to participate in this history making milestone for DP Athletics. Go Chargers!After much deliberation, Wilson has decided to attend Azusa Pacific University next year! We are so thrilled for him…he’s going to love college!
There are so many big things going on this spring…birthdays, weddings, spring sports, the “end of the school year” events we look forward to every year as well as all the “extras” of a graduating senior! Rudy has a pretty long list of appointments too…we saw his neurology and GI specialists last week, we have an appointment this week with Dr. Harake (cardiology) and appts with the Endocrinologist, UCLA Dental Clinic and UCLA Heart Clinic in May. Unfortunately, Rudy will be missing quite a bit of school due to the appointments coming up but our goal is to pace ourselves, stay focused and finish this school year WELL. The countdown to summer is ON!!
My dear friend took this amazing picture off the coast in Carpinteria last week…see the pretty silhouette of a flying angel in the cloud? Love it! Thanks for sharing Kathy 🙂
Oh my, So many BIG things going on in the life of our family….sadly, I’m experiencing some computer problems and I may have lost my pictures from the past year (Noooooooo! Praying they can be retrieved). I’ll have to wait to post a longer update but for now I just wanted to post this precious moment I captured yesterday at the a Special Olympics. Rudy was NOT motivated to participate….especially with the large crowd of cheering spectators yelling on the sidelines. He did, however, perk up when he saw Coach Galvan (his Adaptive PE Teacher) and all of a sudden he was all smiles! Way to go Coach! Way to go Special Olympics!
Either Christmas came early for Rudy this year or the Easter Bunny has a HUGE basket in which to carry his goodies because Rudy hit the jackpot this week…so much so that even the big kids expressed feeling a little jealous! Thanks to the Manning family and the dear folks at Kisses from Katie, Rudy was gifted his very own IPad with accessories and adapted therapy tricycle!!!
Apparently, a boy + an IPad = a big smileIt took Rudy all of a 1/2 day to master peddling AND steering at the same time! On Day 3, he made his way around the high school track TWICE – a 1/2 mile. Amazing!!!
We are deeply grateful to Kisses from Katie for choosing to bless Rudy so generously with equipment that is not only therapeutic and practical but also SO MUCH FUN!!! The day after we got Rudy’s bike, Max, Olivia and I were on our bikes riding around in circles with Rudy in our cul-de-sac and for the first time EVER, we caught a vision of our family going on a bike ride alongside Rudy in our neighborhood. It sounds simple and mundane but for a kid who couldn’t keep his feet on the peddles of a bike less than a week ago, it’s a miracle to see him riding independently with the extra support and peddle straps on his Rifton trike! And for a kid who doesn’t have the fine motor skills to control a pencil or manipulate a computer screen with a mouse, it’s a miracle to watch him effortlessly navigate touch screen technology and play alphabet games on an IPad! We are confident this equipment will help Rudy progress developmentally in addition to bring him great joy. Thank you Kisses from Katie…thank you Alan and Vickie…thank you sweet Katie Manning whose precious life we are reminded of every day! We are humbled!!
Thank you, too, for the sweet comments and prayers and expressions of encouragement I’ve received since my last blog post! It’s definitely a daily challenge to keep things in perspective but the outpouring of love and encouragement is certainly a blessing. Having a week off from school and therapy and dr. appts this week has been good for my soul…wish we could extend spring break just a little bit longer. 🙂
Here are a few more highlights from the past couple of weeks…
A visit with cousin Josh from Alabama helped kick off the official start of spring with lots of laughs and tackles!Max and Rudy deep in car ride conversation.Wilson’s late night return from a college visit…1st stop? Steal a hug from a sleeping Rudy.Kyle’s Kitchen is becoming quite the neighborhood hangout…We ran into Rudy’s big buddy, Natalie, from school and, of course, Kyle and his sister during our last visit! Yay!!!It was “all hands on deck” yesterday for the SBRM Easter Feast. Wilson, Max, Olivia, SBRM staffer Olivia and two guests created an impromptu worship team that rocked it in the courtyard!…Rudy entertained the guests on the other side of the courtyard with his game of hide & seek with SBRM staffer Jill!
Well, I guess it’s time to get ready for our Good Friday service at church. I’m grateful for the special emphasis of Holy Week in the Christian calendar…from Palm Sunday to Maundy Thursday to Good Friday and then Easter…focusing on Christ’s willingness to suffer on my behalf certainly helps put my struggles into perspective…light and momentary in the eternal scheme of things for sure. 🙂 May your struggles feel a little less daunting today too. Many Blessings to you dear friends.
Rudy's Beat 